After sitting out a few months thanks to injury and a late opponent change, Junior dos Santos finally had his first UFC heavyweight title defense at UFC 146.
Dos Santos met former two-time UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, who filled in for the suspended Alistair Overeem.
Like many predicted, Dos Santos was able to use his quick and precise boxing to out-strike and eventually knockout Mir in the second round.
Although Mir did land a few leg kicks and counter-strikes, none of them seemed to phase Dos Santos.
Mir’s only hope was to get the fight to the ground.
But after Dos Santos avoided a leg lock attempt early in the fight, Mir did not really have an answer for him.
As Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan stated in the video above, Dos Santos had excellent takedown defense and footwork.
With the win, Dos Santos is now 15-1 (9-0 in the UFC). The win was his 11th by knockout.
Mir, on the other hand, is now 16-6 with each of his losses coming by knockout.
Mir has the most heavyweight wins in UFC history and is a two-time champion.
But Mir has lost the last three title fights he’s been in. Although he is still a great heavyweight, Mir may have had his last chance at a title belt.
With Dos Santos as champion, he already has wins over many of the top heavyweights in the division, including Roy Nelson, Stefan Struve and Cain Velasquez.
Thanks to his combination of great striking and defense, there may not be anybody who can defeat the champ for a long time.
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